Byron Reed Edges Craig Mintz For Attica All Star Sprints Victory

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – ATTICA, OH – For the first time since 2013, and for the 11th time during his storied career, Monclova, Ohio’s Byron Reed is a main event winner with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions, this time holding off Craig Mintz and DJ Foos at Attica Raceway Park to officially kick-off Memorial Day weekend.

Reed, who started fifth on the feature grid, did not take command of the 40-lap program until lap 28, but swapped positions with Craig Mintz and Chris Andrews on multiple occasions until solidifying his place at the top of the running order. As an added note, it was Reed’s first Arctic Cat All Star victory at Attica Raceway Park since June 18, 2010, as well as his fifth overall.

“That’s what I love about Attica,” Reed explained in victory lane. “Especially when you get into these 40-lap races. I’m not sure I was the best car here tonight, but you just keep battling and battling and battling. Sometimes, things just go your way.”

Reed worked his way forward immediately, crossing under the flagstand for the first time fourth in the running order, ultimately moving ahead to take third on the following circuit. Three cautions before hitting double-digits on the lap counter kept the field stacked, allowing Reed and Craig Mintz, who was making his first start of the 2017 season, to race nose-to-tail with race leader Chris Andrews. Reed and Mintz continued to apply pressure on Andrews for the next 20 circuits, eventually intensifying as the trio of frontrunners reached the back of the field.

Despite Andrews scored as the leader during each of the initial takeover attempts, nearly a half-dozen lead changes would occur between laps 24 and 27, with Reed eventually coming out on top to officially lead lap 28. A final caution on lap 31 would stack the field one final time, but clean air and an open race track proved to be too beneficial Reed.

Mintz chased the familiar Crown Battery-backed No. 5 to the final checkers, followed by DJ Foos, Broc Martin and Stuart Brubaker. Andrews, who led the first 27 circuits before battling the remaining distance inside the top-three, slowed due to low fuel issues just before the finish and settled for seventh.

“I don’t know, but if nobody had fun watching that, then you need to find a different sport,” Craig Mintz explained, driver of the Ed Neumeister-owned No. 11N. “That was a great time tonight. Byron, Chris, DJ; those guys are all so much fun to race with and you can trust those guys. It’s fun, clean racing. When we all got into lap traffic, that was the most fun. That was probably the most fun I’ve had in a long time. I can’t thank Ed Neumeister enough for this opportunity. That whole crew really busted their butts tonight.”

“When you have the momentum, you do not want to let off,” Byron Reed said when discussing racing through traffic. “I’m sure you’ve heard the expression ‘my ass cheeks were starting to pucker.’ Things were getting pretty tight. I didn’t want to back off because I knew that was my chance; there was a small hole in traffic and I had to take it.”

Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions competition will continue on Sunday evening, May 28, with the inaugural Memorial Classic at Mansfield Motor Speedway in Mansfield, Ohio. The state-of-the-art complex, recently transitioning back to a dirt facility for the first time since asphalt covered the half-mile in 1999, will host the Tony Stewart-owned organization for the first time since 1988; the first and only Arctic Cat All Star appearance during the 2017 season. “The Mouse” Kenny Jacobs is the all-time leading Arctic Cat All Star winner at Mansfield Motor Speedway, earning three main event victories between 1984 and 1988.

Mansfield Motor Speedway will open pit gates at 2:00pm on Sunday afternoon, May 28. Spectator gates will swing open at 4:00pm, followed by hot laps and qualifying time trials at 6, sharp. Those seeking additional information should visit Mansfield Motor Speedway live on the Web at www.mansfieldmotorspeedway.com.

Contingency Awards/Results: Attica Raceway Park- Friday, May 26, 2017:
Memorial Day Weekend Special
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 48 entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Broc Martin – 12.524 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Craig Mintz – 12.075 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Parker Price-Miller
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Byron Reed
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Broc Martin
Daido Engine Bearings Heat #4: Stuart Brubaker
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts C-Main: Carson Macedo
JE Pistons Dash #1: Stuart Brubaker
Kistler Racing Products Dash #2: Parker Price-Miller
Classic Ink USA B-Main: Max Stambaugh
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Byron Reed
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Max Stambaugh [+5]
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Caleb Helms [6th]
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Ryan Smith [11th]
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Max Stambaugh [16th]
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Group (A)
1. 68G-Tyler Gunn, 12.408; 2. 2-Parker Price-Miller, 12.431; 3. 26-Tayler Malsam, 12.432; 4. 9M-Jordan Ryan, 12.568; 5. 59-Ryan Smith, 12.631; 6. 4-Brian Smith, 12.641; 7. 45-Trevor Baker, 12.666; 8. 1080-Jordan Mackison, 12.859; 9. 5X-Justin Peck, 12.92; 10. 3G-Carson Macedo, 12.967; 11. 49H-Bradley Howard, 13.252; 12. 33-Brent Matus, 13.628

Group (B)
1. 23-DJ Foos, 12.241; 2. 57X-Andrew Palker, 12.289; 3. 16-Chris Andrews, 12.2891; 4. 5R-Byron Reed, 12.345; 5. 81-Lee Jacobs, 12.371; 6. 39-Spencer Bayston, 12.392; 7. 33M-Max Stambaugh, 12.393; 8. 60-Jody Keegan, 12.501; 9. 45L-Brian Lay, 12.535; 10. 27Z-Sean Zemunik, 12.697; 11. 9X-Thomas Meseraull, 12.854; 12. 8J-Jess Stiger, 13.304

Group ©
1. 11N-Craig Mintz, 12.075; 2. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 12.388; 3. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, 12.3881; 4. 83M-Broc Martin, 12.404; 5. 99-Brady Bacon, 12.516; 6. 60K-Kory Crabtree, 12.6; 7. 7-Shawn Valenti, 12.668; 8. 13-Brandon Matus, 12.855; 9. 8M-TJ Michael, 13.023; 10. 9-Ryan Linder, 13.033; 11. 9C-Roger Campbell, 13.086; 12. 51-John Garvin, 13.274

Group (D)
1. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 12.32; 2. 17-Caleb Helms, 12.363; 3. 5T-Travis Philo, 12.486; 4. 35S-Stuart Brubaker, 12.526; 5. 5K-Adam Kekich, 12.543; 6. 35-Tyler Esh, 12.583; 7. 59N-Bryan Nuckles, 12.839; 8. 95-Hunter Mackison, 13.009; 9. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.047; 10. 91-Cale Thomas, 13.153; 11. 22M-Dan McCarron, 13.44; 12. 25M-Ken Mackey, 13.653

Heat #1 – Group (A) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 2-Parker Price-Miller [3]; 2. 9M-Jordan Ryan [1]; 3. 59-Ryan Smith [5]; 4. 68G-Tyler Gunn [4]; 5. 4-Brian Smith [6]; 6. 5X-Justin Peck [9]; 7. 3G-Carson Macedo [10]; 8. 49H-Bradley Howard [11]; 9. 33-Brent Matus [12]; 10. 1080-Jordan Mackison [8]; 11. 45-Trevor Baker [7]; 12. 26-Tayler Malsam [2]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 5R-Byron Reed [1]; 2. 16-Chris Andrews [2]; 3. 23-DJ Foos [4]; 4. 57X-Andrew Palker [3]; 5. 81-Lee Jacobs [5]; 6. 39-Spencer Bayston [6]; 7. 33M-Max Stambaugh [7]; 8. 9X-Thomas Meseraull [11]; 9. 60-Jody Keegan [8]; 10. 45L-Brian Lay [9]; 11. 8J-Jess Stiger [12]; 12. 27Z-Sean Zemunik [10]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 83M-Broc Martin [1]; 2. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [2]; 3. 11N-Craig Mintz [4]; 4. 22-Brandon Spithaler [3]; 5. 99-Brady Bacon [5]; 6. 7-Shawn Valenti [7]; 7. 60K-Kory Crabtree [6]; 8. 8M-TJ Michael [9]; 9. 13-Brandon Matus [8]; 10. 9C-Roger Campbell [11]; 11. 51-John Garvin [12]; 12. 9-Ryan Linder [10]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 35S-Stuart Brubaker [1]; 2. 10H-Chad Kemenah [4]; 3. 17-Caleb Helms [3]; 4. 5T-Travis Philo [2]; 5. 35-Tyler Esh [6]; 6. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [9]; 7. 5K-Adam Kekich [5]; 8. 95-Hunter Mackison [8]; 9. 22M-Dan McCarron [11]; 10. 91-Cale Thomas [10]; 11. 59N-Bryan Nuckles [7]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 35S-Stuart Brubaker [1]; 2. 11N-Craig Mintz [3]; 3. 5R-Byron Reed [2]; 4. 83M-Broc Martin [4]; 5. 9M-Jordan Ryan [5]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 2-Parker Price-Miller [1]; 2. 16-Chris Andrews [2]; 3. 23-DJ Foos [3]; 4. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [4]

C-Main (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer
1. 3G-Carson Macedo [2]; 2. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [6]; 3. 91-Cale Thomas [8]; 4. 5X-Justin Peck [1]; 5. 9-Ryan Linder [5]; 6. 51-John Garvin [10]; 7. 95-Hunter Mackison [3]; 8. 8J-Jess Stiger [11]; 9. 33-Brent Matus [13]; 10. 22M-Dan McCarron [12]; 11. 9C-Roger Campbell [7]; 12. 49H-Bradley Howard [9]; 13. 8M-TJ Michael [4]; 14. 25M-Ken Mackey [14]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 33M-Max Stambaugh [2]; 2. 45L-Brian Lay [5]; 3. 60-Jody Keegan [4]; 4. 5K-Adam Kekich [6]; 5. 60K-Kory Crabtree [7]; 6. 7-Shawn Valenti [9]; 7. 9X-Thomas Meseraull [12]; 8. 3G-Carson Macedo [15]; 9. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [16]; 10. 39-Spencer Bayston [1]; 11. 27Z-Sean Zemunik [10]; 12. 59N-Bryan Nuckles [11]; 13. 13-Brandon Matus [13]; 14. 26-Tayler Malsam [3]; 15. 45-Trevor Baker [8]; 16. 1080-Jordan Mackison [14]

A-Main (40 Laps)
1. 5R-Byron Reed [5]; 2. 11N-Craig Mintz [3]; 3. 23-DJ Foos [4]; 4. 83M-Broc Martin [7]; 5. 35S-Stuart Brubaker [1]; 6. 17-Caleb Helms [8]; 7. 16-Chris Andrews [2]; 8. 9M-Jordan Ryan [9]; 9. 81-Lee Jacobs [15]; 10. 57X-Andrew Palker [10]; 11. 59-Ryan Smith [11]; 12. 68G-Tyler Gunn [12]; 13. 4-Brian Smith [16]; 14. 99-Brady Bacon [14]; 15. 7-Shawn Valenti [22]; 16. 33M-Max Stambaugh [21]; 17. 45L-Brian Lay [18]; 18. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [6]; 19. 60-Jody Keegan [19]; 20. 5K-Adam Kekich [20]; 21. 35-Tyler Esh [17]; 22. 95-Hunter Mackison [25]; 23. 9C-Roger Campbell [26]; 24. 60K-Kory Crabtree [23]; 25. 22-Brandon Spithaler [13]; 26. 2-Parker Price-Miller [24] Lap Leaders: Chris Andrews [1-27]; Byron Reed [28-40]

**Travis Philo and Chad Kemenah each disqualified due to post-heat race altercation

Current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Standings (May 26, 2017):
1. Chad Kemenah: 1570
2. Caleb Armstrong: 1476
3. Caleb Helms: 1470
4. Ryan Smith: 1412
5. Max Stambaugh: 1278
6. Tim Shaffer: 1254
7. T.J. Michael: 1218
8. Brandon Matus: 1136
9. Brent Matus: 1104
10. Brandon Spithaler: 1101